Hi travellers,
Guess what! Another sunny warm day here in paradise. Its was 33 C and we went to the beach. This was our last full day here in beautiful Zihuatanejo area.
Our other new friends, Julie and Ed, move over to the Pacifico resort in Ixtapa for another week today. I wonder if we could camp out on their balcony?
For our last breakfast we headed down town with Julie and Ed for breakfast at Bananas restaurant. They make a mean fruit smoothie. I liked the sign on the outside of the restaurant about the soccer game. They spell kind of like I do. Too bad they don’t make a spell checker for a white board.
After an enjoyable breakfast we said our good byes and jumped on a bus for Playa La Ropa. I think when they retire the buses that run from Ixtapa to Zihuatanejo, they put them on this route. I’ve not seen such beat up old busses since our early travels to Mexico. They rattle and shake and all sound like they need a new muffler. Oh well, the fare here is only 5 pesos and they run with all the windows and doors open so you are not overcome by fumes.
Playa La Ropa is right across the bay from our resort. If you stood in our resort pool and looked across the bay, Playa La Ropa would be at about 10 AM. Today is Saturday and even with the triathlon in Ixtapa, the beach is busy with locals. It’s very scenic here, with resorts built along the beach and up the hillside. I took a shot of our resort from Playa La Ropa. Villa Vera is the big brown building in the top right quadrant of the image.
We were in Zihuatanejo twelve years ago for a day when we drove up the coast from Acapulco. Until today, we were not sure where in the Zihuatanejo we had stayed. Today, we located it and some other familiar landmarks. It was here at Playa La Ropa! Judge for yourself from the images I have enclosed.
There were a group of about 20 high school kids sitting just down the beach from us. Some of the boys started doing some tumbling on the sand. One of the kids was pretty good.
We headed back to the resort later in the afternoon, surviving the gassy bus ride once again. The climb up the hill is getting harder and harder to do. For those that need to know, it is actually 0.75 Km and takes just under 10 minutes to climb. According to my workout monitor, you will burn 37 Kcal on the uphill walk. The last part is the killer with a 45 step steep staircase to climb.
We decided we would descend the mountain one last time for dinner tonight. It is a bit cooler and there is a steady cooling breeze so we picked a restaurant we had been to before, Tatas restaurant. It was a beautiful night and they are located right on the beach, in fact, in the sand about 20 feet from the water.
Because this was our last night I elected to leave my camera at the resort. It weighs 14 pounds and after two weeks of lugging it around with me everywhere, I thought it would be nice to have a night without it. Now this has backfired on me before and, sure enough, it did again tonight.
We arrived at our restaurant and right next door on the sand there was a local wedding happening. It was just a small group of local people but they had set up a small shelter made of palm leaves right on the public beach and lined both sides of a 20 or so foot pathway from the beach walkway with coconuts that were carved out, then filled with kerosene and lit. The bride was in a long white dress and the groom was also in white but Mexican casual. The whole service took about 15 minutes or so and all the people walking down the beach applauded when the ceremony was over. I wish I had some pictures to show you. I should have guessed. We have been here 3 Saturdays and the previous 2 have both had weddings.
We had a great dinner and an opportunity to say good-bye to Umberto, the proprietor, who we have come to know. I had garlic shrimp and Andrea had lobster. With drinks, the meal was only 360 pesos (around $35.00). We lingered an hour or so until dusk watching a half-dozen or so kids on boogie boards performing in the surf. It was a fitting close to a wonderful vacation.
There probably will be no post tomorrow as we overnight in Houston. I’ll catch you up when we get home on Monday.
Keith's Travel Ramble 